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This week's magazine

22 December 2012

Issue 2896

New Scientist issue 2896 cover
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Editor's picks

Prehistoric cinema: A silver screen on the cave wall

Life

Prehistoric cinema: A silver screen on the cave wall

Features
Three gods: The hardest logic puzzle ever

Life

Three gods: The hardest logic puzzle ever

Features
Roll up, roll up…

Roll up, roll up…

Features
Dangerous liaisons: Fatal animal attractions

Life

Dangerous liaisons: Fatal animal attractions

Features
Fleadom or death: Reviving the glorious flea circus

Life

Fleadom or death: Reviving the glorious flea circus

Features
Superdoodles: The science of scribbling

Life

Superdoodles: The science of scribbling

Features
Skidology: Winter research that lets things slide

Life

Skidology: Winter research that lets things slide

Features
Feast for the senses: Cook up a master dish

Life

Feast for the senses: Cook up a master dish

Features
Shiver me timbers: The coolest warship ever made

Technology

Shiver me timbers: The coolest warship ever made

Features
Getting sloshed: It's the way you walk

Life

Getting sloshed: It's the way you walk

Features
Gastrophysics: A network theory recipe book

Life

Gastrophysics: A network theory recipe book

Features
Tricksy type: how fonts can mess with your mind

Life

Tricksy type: how fonts can mess with your mind

Features
Marvellous mistletoe: Giving forests the kiss of life

Life

Marvellous mistletoe: Giving forests the kiss of life

Features
Are there really 50 Eskimo words for snow?

Earth

Are there really 50 Eskimo words for snow?

Features
Soft, strong and long: The story of toilet paper

Life

Soft, strong and long: The story of toilet paper

Features
New Scientist 2012 holiday quiz

New Scientist 2012 holiday quiz

Features

Table of contents

News

Hubble sees earliest known galaxies through cosmic fog

Space

Hubble sees earliest known galaxies through cosmic fog

Galactic demographics Peering through a thinning fog of hydrogen, the Hubble Space Telescope has taken the first census of the earliest known galaxies in the universe. One is the most distant galaxy yet spotted – so far away that its light has taken 13.4 billion years to reach us. Hubble's survey of fledgling galaxies can …

News

Physics

Higgs boson having an identity crisis

News

Overeating now bigger global problem than lack of food

News

Technology

Warning, speedsters: you can't fool quantum radar

News

Health

Even the tiniest stroke can damage the brain

News

Space

Nile-like river roves across Saturn's moon Titan

News

Earth

Fungal frog killer hops into crayfish

News

Physics

Multidimensional black holes get electric when flexed

News

Earth

What leaked IPCC report really says on climate change

News

Health

Twin attack could deliver universal flu vaccine

News

Life

Ancient city of Troy rebranded itself after war

News

Earth

Violent polar storms help control the world's weather

News

Life

Blame bacteria if you start putting on weight

News

Life

Urban Byzantine monks gave in to temptation

News

Technology

App for quizzing your way to being a mastermind

News

Technology

Fail-safe software could stop flash crashes

News

Technology

Laser cookery makes your food more fun

News

Earth

2013 Smart Guide: Arctic melt will spark weird weather

News

Health

2013 Smart Guide: Revolutionary human stem cell trial

News

Technology

2013 Smart Guide: Next-generation video games

News

Technology

2013 Smart Guide: Hot computing for a cool billion

News

Space

2013 Smart Guide: New maps to rein in cosmic inflation

News

Space

2013 Smart Guide: Supercomet to outshine the moon

News

Life

2013 Smart Guide: Curiosity to reach Mars mother lode

News

Health

2013 Smart Guide: More people than ever 'mentally ill'

News

Life

2013 Smart Guide: Searching for human origins in Asia

News

Technology

2013 Smart Guide: Wave goodbye to the mouse

News

Review of 2012: The year's biggest news at a glance

News

Opinion

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

The end of the world is an opportunity, not a threat

Don't waste time bemoaning the demise of the old order; get on with building the new one

Opinion

Technology

How does a traffic cop ticket a driverless car?

Opinion

Earth

'Insane' Antarctic winter crossing like space flight

Opinion

Life

Your consciousness is your affair, says drug crusader

Opinion

Aperture

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Extremophile ecosystem thrives in Arctic frost flowers

See more: To see the image this article refers to, keep checking Picture of the Day on our news blog Short Sharp Science OFF the coast of Barrow, Alaska, the Beaufort Sea is host to a remarkable ecosystem – a bloom of frost flowers. It makes for a beautiful winter scene, but that's not what's …

Regulars

Features

Prehistoric cinema: A silver screen on the cave wall

Life

Prehistoric cinema: A silver screen on the cave wall

With cartoon frescoes, shadow theatre and a rudimentary form of animation, our ancestors knew how to bring their stories to life

Features

Life

Three gods: The hardest logic puzzle ever

Features

Roll up, roll up…

Features

Life

Dangerous liaisons: Fatal animal attractions

Features

Life

Fleadom or death: Reviving the glorious flea circus

Features

Life

Superdoodles: The science of scribbling

Features

Life

Skidology: Winter research that lets things slide

Features

Life

Feast for the senses: Cook up a master dish

Features

Technology

Shiver me timbers: The coolest warship ever made

Features

Life

Getting sloshed: It's the way you walk

Features

Life

Gastrophysics: A network theory recipe book

Features

Life

Tricksy type: how fonts can mess with your mind

Features

Life

Marvellous mistletoe: Giving forests the kiss of life

Features

Earth

Are there really 50 Eskimo words for snow?

Features

Life

Soft, strong and long: The story of toilet paper

Features

New Scientist 2012 holiday quiz

Features

Culturelab

2012 Flash Fiction winner: <i>Sleep</i> by Richard Clarke

2012 Flash Fiction winner: Sleep by Richard Clarke

See more: An illustrated version of this article will be published within the next two weeks on our CultureLab books and arts blog

CultureLab

Photo puzzle: Can you make the connection?

CultureLab

X marks eureka: Inspiration struck here

CultureLab

More

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Enigma Number 1729

Xmas gifts I have given each letter of the alphabet a different whole-number value from 1 to 26. Therefore I can now work out the value of any word by adding up the values of its letters. For example, XMAS and GIFTS both make 34. It turns out that all the following words have the …

Regulars

Regulars

Feedback: Magnetic socks for cyclists

Feedback: Magnetic socks for cyclists

Magnetic socks for cyclists CYCLIST Lance Armstrong did not have to take performance-enhancing drugs to succeed, Michael Kolmet suggests. All Armstrong needed to do was wear the magnetic socks Michael found promoted at magneticsocks.com . These could have helped him win his seven Tour de France titles and fixed his golf swing as well. "Pain …

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

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